Bittersweet sunshines

click on photos for sources.

Pretty clothes look so pretty in pretty lighting. Le sigh.

I still want to hang a pretty dress on my wall, but I need to find a pretty hanger to hang it on first.

Sorry for the short post, my Internet's been wacky this morning.

(title by seaembraces)

Beyond the sea

On Wednesday, I did another photoshoot with Hanna. Last time we didn't get to spend too long, so I wanted to do a part two of the shoot-same location, same time, etc. This time she brought this ridiculously cute skirt and I brought the lace top for her to wear.

I was so stressed out that it wasn't sunset-y like the time before. With San Francisco weather, you never know if it'll be foggy/misty/cloudy (which it is 90% of the time) or sunny. And the weather was foggy, even though the forecast said it would be sunny.

Even so, I think the shots came out nice. Let me know what you think as this isn't my usual style!




It was a good chance for me to experiment with something other than glowy/backlit lighting. One of my goals is to be more versatile, so this was the perfect opportunity.

I am going to be shooting with Hanna so much more this summer, she is the perfect model :) I couldn't be happier to have found her.

I fell asleep beneath the flowers

photos (and title) by craig schlewitz.

Perfect lighting. Perfect focus. That's all I can say.

I did a wee little interview with Katy, of Little Owl Waltz (which just went live last week!). I helped her with her blog layout/header design and getting her blog alive and well and I can already tell it's going to be absolutely dreammyyy so go on and have a look!

Once upon a time...

...there was a photographer that continually blew my mind. Her name was Anna Wolf. When she emailed me her latest work, all I could do was drool with amazement (well maybe not exactly, but i was wowed nonetheless). The colors! The clothing! The beautiful models!

Here is the behind-the-scenes video of that shoot:

Behind-the-scenes is my absolute favorite-doesn't it give you goosebumps, all that prettiness? I love seeing how a shoot was put together-all the effort that goes into producing one editorial. Maybe one day I'll be doing something like that...

I love the hair in this shoot:

And another behind-the-scenes video!


I also did an interview with Anna a loooong time ago ('sup early blogging days). Read it here if it strikes your fancy ;)

My grandma's attic

I've noticed I have quite a bit of handmade items in my home, whether it be from Etsy, or made by me, so I figured 'Hey, why not share?'

So these are the handmade items of my home:

tile by me (recognize the photo?). headband by blooming leopold. necklace by flavanilla.

coffee sack owl (i've named him howard!) by tialys. card by me.

books by me, for school projects.

tiles by me.

So those are some of the things I've made (to all who have been asking to see some of my craft projects)

I've been seriously thinking about making these tiles for my shop (which is currently closed), but then shipping would be pretty pricey since they are a bit heavy. Thoughts?

Jessica Aléna...

...has pretty things.


(Jessica Aléna)

Well I'm off to go fruit picking with a few friends today :)

Hope you've been having a great week!

Forest dreams

(illustration by steph baxter)

Wouldn't that be a lovely dream?

I've had some crazy dreams lately. You know dreams that are so real they feel like they could be true? A few nights ago, I dreamt I was in France on a trip with my family and wanted to order a pastry at a cafe, but when I went to speak, all that came out was Spanish (and i'm not even fluent in spanish!). There's more to the dream, but I can't remember it right now... boo.

Dreams are so fun, I've got to get better at remembering them though! Have you had any fun dreams recently?

Film shots, finally!

So here are the film shots I took of the two little girls (and a random paper crane thing i made) way back in November. This was the first time I've ever used a film camera and I just love the quality of the photos.


I'm getting film back from this photoshoot this week, so I'm really excited to see how it came out.

I have so many photoshoots planned this summer, it's crazy. So much to do, but I love it. My goal this summer is to do at least one photoshoot/week. It can be casual/full-blown with makeup artists, stylists, and hairstylists/candid/whatever, but by the end of the summer, I want to have a more versatile portfolio and lots of images to choose from. I have another casual shoot with Hanna tomorrow-same location, I guess you could call it 'part two' of the other photoshoot since we really didn't have much time to spend last time. And then another one Saturday with a new model. So expect a lot more pictures by me! I hope you don't mind ;)

Anyway, let me know what you think about these! I can't wait to experiment with more film :)

One more time with feeling

(click on photos + words for sources)

That is one of the most beautiful things I have ever read. Do you ever read/see/hear something that is just so beautiful, you don't know if your heart can take it? When I was really young, I used to think I had an illness that made me feel things 'too much.' Maybe you're familiar with this feeling too? I think all too often, as we grow older, we tend to numb those feelings, numb those emotions, when really, we need to feel things to be alive.

The sun is in my hair

First off: a bit of news: If you read yesterday's post, you know I had a photoshoot scheduled yesterday. Unfortunately, the makeup artist was sick, so the shoot was postponed. But the model and I figured, 'Hey, we're still available! Let's do a mini/casual shoot on our own!' So off we went to the very cold beach in San Francisco. I'm actually glad things worked out this way because I was able to treat this like a trial shoot-make sure all the props looked good, lighting was good at that time, etc. and change anything that needed changing before the bigger shoot.

The shoot didn't last long because it was so cold, but it was nice getting to know the model, who is super sweet. I shot both b&w film and digital, so I'm going to develop the film today-I hope it came out good! For now, here are some digital shots:




model: hanna @ diva models

P.S. I'm taking off tomorrow to enjoy the long weekend we have here in the US. See you all here on Monday :)